Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Buhari: Time To Change Strategy

By Sunny Ikhioya

Strategy is the path, course or way we choose to attain our goals. There are many
strategies. What succeeds in one clime may not in another. We have not been
adopting the right strategies to the challenges facing this country and that is
why we are still adrift. What are the goals and vision of Nigeria as a
nation? It is a united, peaceful, strong and prosperous nation. How close are
we to attaining these goals? Very far, the reason is that we keep applying the
same remedy to the same problem without success and successive regimes have
been guilty of this.

*Buhari

The present government is threading the same path and will
get the same result unless it re-directs its course. Not a few of us are agreed
of the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari represents the best hope for the
stabilization of this country, at this point in our history. This is why his
coming was greeted with general acceptance from every part of the country.

Even
President Goodluck Jonathan’s trouble shooter, Chief E K Clark did a u-turn and
welcomed his coming. There was relative peace in the land from the south to the
north in the first two months after the elections; even the dreaded Boko Haram
was silent. Nine months into the government, disillusionment is beginning to
set in and pockets of resistance are beginning to spring up here and there. How
did the regime squander the goodwill it received then? Will it continue to hold
the past government responsible for its inactions? Don’t we know already that
the past government performed woefully? Is that not why they were voted out?
Were we not promised change and no less? President Muhammadu Buhari The
principal thing in the movement forward for this country is peace and
tranquility, we can only get that if we are united with a common purpose, every
time this country has moved forward in terms of development, there has been
almost unanimity of purpose by all. Before the coming of the military, the
regions were run autonomously and each progressed accordingly.

The Yakubu
Gowon years, backed by oil money also witnessed a period of happiness for
Nigerians, even the devastation caused by the civil war was ameliorated to a
great extent but outside these two regimes, what have we seen? The enthronement
of mediocrity by successive rulers: ethnicity, cronyism, sectional interests,
religious acrimonies and glaring inequitable distribution of our common wealth,
through shameless manipulations and rationalisations. Let us not deceive
ourselves, until we address the challenge of ‘oneness’ in this country, we will
make no progress. No economic miracle can address that, even if you bring in
the best brains, the people must be willing to be led. Nine months after, why
are the pockets of resistance on the rise? The government must avoid situations
where dissidents manifest.

It is always
better to talk than to allow them to go underground. Ben Ezeamalu writing in
the February 1 edition of Sahara Reporters quoted Max Abrahms thus; “History shows that terrorist groups are
extra ordinarily difficult to snuff out once they have reached a critical mass.
The truth is that terrorism is very easy to perpetrate.” The solution to
checking insurgency is openness, equity and proper rule of law. When you allow
the law to take its course naturally, without any interference, the people will
be open to your intentions but when the law courts have made pronouncements and
you use wisdom and logic to do otherwise, then it is obvious that you are only
adding fuel to the already ignited fire.

President
Muhammadu Buhari is still suffused with the military culture. Unfortunately,
with what the world has come to realise, extreme force does not give you
results. We must begin to apply very effective means of communication between
the government and various interest groups. Government decisions must not be
seen to be biased or favoring particular interests. Speaking in Addis Ababa as
reported in the Vanguard of February 1, 2016, President Muhammadu Buhari said; “The theft of the oil market by some
Nigerians who happen to live there who feel that the oil belongs to them and
not the country is an irritating thing for those of us who participated in the
civil war for 30 months in which at least 2million Nigerians were killed”.

Such a statement is inappropriate at this point in our
history, where various ethnic groups are clamouring for their freedom to
determine how their God given resources are managed. Is Buhari telling us that
the north participated in the civil war because of the oil in the Niger Delta?
Before then, what was the formula for revenue sharing accruing to the nation?
With the sacrifices of the Niger Delta to the development of this country, they
surely deserve a better treatment, instead of spiteful and disdainful comments
that will further incite the people. Why are the oil wells ceded to people from
other parts of the country and not indigenes of the place? Why can’t the people
enjoy the fruits of their sufferings, that is fruits from the environmental
degradation of their land, severe health risks and pillaging by international
oil companies and the federal and state governments? Such are the causes of
insurgency in the land.

The
solution to Nigeria’s
problem lies in a total restructuring of the system. First do away with the
over bloated and wasteful central government and allow the states and regions to
determine their resources. They will then be free to collaborate with whoever
and whatever neighbouring states that they deem fit. We should not take the
issue of insurgency lightly, at least the Boko Haram has shown us enough of
that. You can only look at Iraq,
Syria and Libya to see a
vivid picture of what happens when insurgents are allowed to thrive.

As I was
rounding up this piece, news just came that a foreign vessel has been hijacked
in the Nigerian waters, this has not happened for some years now. Are we going
back to the dark days in the south south waters? Do we have the wherewithal to
contain the Boko Haram, Niger Delta militants and Biafran separatists
simultaneously, if push turns to shove? Our strategists must analyze the
situation carefully and advise the government correctly. History has shown that
you achieve more with talking than to war-war, without peace and unity; there
cannot be any economic or political progress.